Relationship-centric portals for communication sessions

Abstract

Relationship-centric resources are provided to users during a communication session. After establishing a communication session between a first communication device and a second communication device, content that meets a content descriptor is retrieved. This content descriptor describes a nature of a relationship between users of the first and second communication devices. The retrieved content, which meets the content descriptor, is then simultaneously displaying on both the first communication device and the second communication device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for providing relationship-centric resources to users during a communication session, the method comprising:
 establishing a communication session between a first communication device and a second communication device; 
 determining, during the communication session between the first and second communication devices, an intersection of mutual topics of interest between users of the first and second communication devices by cross-referencing sets of interests for the users; 
 retrieving content based on a determination that the content meets a content descriptor, wherein the content descriptor describes a nature of the communication session between the first and second communication devices, and further based on a determination that the content is related to a mutual topic of interest from the intersection of mutual topics of interest between the users of the first and second communication devices, wherein the determination of relatedness is based on a cross-reference between the content and the mutual topic of interest, wherein the cross-reference is stored in a lookup table prior to establishing the communication session; and 
 simultaneously displaying, at the first and second communication device, the retrieved content. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein locations for accessing the retrieved content are stored in the lookup table. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the locations are defined by Universal Resource Locators (URLs). 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein a display format for the received content is predefined by a user of the first communication device, and wherein the display format is stored in the lookup table. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communication session is an instant messaging session between the first and second communication devices. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the retrieved content is simultaneously displayed with a chat box on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) at each of the first and second communication devices. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the retrieved content is a portal. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the retrieved content is data from a database. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication device is a phone, and wherein the second communication device is a service provider's server. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting multiple retrieved content to the user; 
 receiving a selection input from the user, wherein the selection input indicates which of the multiple retrieved content are to be displayed as selected content on the first and second communication devices; and 
 displaying the selected content on the first and second communication devices. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content descriptor is statically defined. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content descriptor is dynamically generated in response to changes to the nature of the communication session between users of the first and second communication devices. 
     
     
       13. An apparatus for providing relationship-centric resources to users during a communication session, the apparatus comprising:
 communication logic implemented in a hardware-based system, wherein the communication logic is configured to establish a communication session between a phone and a call center; 
 wherein the communication logic is further configured to determine, during the communication session between the first and second communication devices, an intersection of mutual topics of interest between a user of the phone and the call center by cross-referencing sets of interests for the user and the call center, wherein the sets of interests are stored in a lookup table prior to establishment of the communication session; 
 wherein the communication logic is further configured to retrieve content that meets a content descriptor, wherein the content descriptor describes a nature of the communication session between the first and second communication devices, and the content is related to a mutual topic of interest from the intersection of mutual topics of interest between the user of the phone and the call center; 
 wherein the communication logic is further configured to send the retrieved content to a computer associated with the phone to display the retrieved content, which meets the content descriptor, on a display of a computer that is authorized to be used by the user of the phone; and 
 wherein the communication logic is further configured to send the retrieved content to be displayed on a display at the call center, wherein the displaying on the display at the call center is simultaneous with the displaying on the display of the computer authorized to be used by the user of the phone. 
 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the communication logic is further configured to remove, in response to the communication session ending, the retrieved content from the display of the computer of the user. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the content descriptor is based on a telephone number for the phone of the user, and wherein the retrieved content is specific for the user. 
     
     
       16. A computer-readable storage device encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed on a processor within a computer, are configured for:
 establishing a communication session between a first communication device and a second communication device; 
 determining, during the communication session between the first and second communication devices, an intersection of mutual topics of interest between users of the first and second communication devices by cross-referencing sets of interests for the users; 
 retrieving content based on a determination that the content meets a content descriptor, wherein the content descriptor describes a nature of the communication session between the first and second communication devices, and further based on a determination that the content is related to a mutual topic of interest from the intersection of mutual topics of interest between the users of the first and second communication devices, wherein the determination of relatedness is based on a cross-reference between the content and the mutual topic of interest, wherein the cross-reference is stored in a lookup table prior to establishing the communication session; and 
 simultaneously displaying the retrieved content both on a display at the first communication device and on a display at the second communication device. 
 
     
     
       17. The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein locations for accessing the retrieved content are stored in the lookup table. 
     
     
       18. The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the communication session is an instant messaging session, and wherein the retrieved content is simultaneously displayed with a chat box on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) at each of the first and second communication devices during the instant messaging session. 
     
     
       19. The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the retrieved content is a portal.